Frontier Journals

Hub New Music and the composer-collective/band Oracle Hysterical, recently noted for their "interpretive sophistication of jazz or musical theater and the deliberate naivete of folk-rock" (Wall Street Journal), join forces on a new project - Frontier Journals.

An evening-length work existing in a world between Western song cycle and indie-rock concept album, Frontier Journals draws from those on the edge of discovery. Text comes from personal accounts of explorers spanning centuries including European colonialists, space voyagers, the fantastic literary universes of Jules Verne, letters of Amelia Earhart & Gertrude Bell, and more.

These individuals captivated by uncharted territory share an often combustible mix of guts, ego, naivete, greed, and myopic determination. The results of their discoveries range from beautiful to terrifying, or both.

Frontier Journals will exist in both concert and staged versions. This project is available for performance beginning Spring 2020. For additional materials, please click here.

Oracle Hysterical's "Helen" single from its album Hecuba.

Hecuba is a lush and experimental rock-leaning album based on Euripides' play of the same name. Written sometime around 424 BCE in Athens, Hecuba displays the the disgraced Queen of Troy at her lowest fortune.